Nav Assessment

Stob Dearg - Buachaille Etive Mor

Today was the last navigation assessment day for the first year students at the University in Fort William - WHC, UHI. I was with Ellen and Freya. The weather was cold and clear, and the views away from the low lying fog in Fort William were brilliant. It took a long while to de-ice the van this morning, and everything I saw during the day looked frozen!! I've not seen as much roadside ice in Scotland as this since 2010.

Ellen and Freya busy with their navigation, with Stob Coire Raineach behind

All the views were breathtaking

Congratulations to Ellen and Freya for passing their assessment today.

Blackwater Reservoir

Ben Nevis in the centre - hopefully there were some people on it today to take advantage of the conditions

Wet And Windy Nav Assessment

It's definitely not winter on Buachaille Etive Mor

Assessment day at the Uni again, but this time it was Navigation for the First Year Degree Students. I was with Vlada, David, Alan and John. The weather was not inviting to say the least - it seemed to be constantly driving heavy rain, in gusting winds, and a good wind chill thrown in - good hill conditions to test their navigation and their personal organisation.  When we got to the Buachaille, there was clearly no snow on it, but when Glencoe Mountain ski resort became visible, there was a little white dusting at the top.

The team on the way up to the Devil's Staircase

With smiles and a good spirit, we got on with the day, and everybody did well showing their nav skills. It was a good day to test gloves, and my recent £4.50 yellow leather gloves lasted a good 3 hours (and made my hands yellow too!).

Alan and John discussing the nav leg

David and Vlada happy to be in the bothy shelter

Bothy shelters are always a winner, and it was the first time in a shelter for most of the team - a quick way to bring the smiles back.

A happy wet team heading back to a warm bus

Congratulations everybody for sticking with it in a less than friendly day.

A Day On The Water

Today I was off to update my Paddling Coaching awards - so I was attending the SCA Coaching Matters update day at Firbush on Loch Tay. I had a chance to drive through Glencoe early in the morning, and saw a few of the early climbing teams setting off up towards the higher Glencoe crags. The conditions looked good, light winds, high clouds and low temperatures.

With a van full of paddling kit I kept driving, destined for a day on the water - which was actually a great day. As I drove back through Glencoe, the winterised crags were still there, and many of the climbing teams cars were still there in the laybys as the light faded - hopefully they got winter product.

Loch Tay

Incident Management

Stob Dubh and Buachaille Etive Beag, from Stob Coire Raineach

Working again at the WHC UHI alongside Scott Kirkhope, with ATM 3 students, we set off to practically look at Incident Management. The students are studying Adventure Tourism Management, and will possibly be future paddling, climbing and walking instructors/leaders - so we were working on a management model that could be applied to other sports/activities.

Stob Dearg and Buachaille Etive Mor

We went to Stob Coire Rainearch on Buachaille Etive Beag, to get amongst the rain and strong winds. These conditions made communication difficult at times and tested their judgement and ability to make clear decisions in slightly testing conditions.

Sally pretending to have a spinal injury so the group can start improvising an effective stretcher

Well done everybody for working hard in the poor weather - and not complaining even when we asked them to discuss the scenarios with hail stinging their faces - nice.

Dusk In The Glen

The stag looked up at the right time

The stag thinking 'Another stupid tourist taking my photo'...

I was passing through Rannoch Moor and Glencoe yesterday - at dusk. The colours were changing as the sun went down. I often get irritated at the tourists that stop roadside to take photos, blocking traffic, but today was my turn to be the irritating tourist. I saw the roadside stag and had to stop for these photos!! The stag seemed to be curious of me in my flip flops, so looked up for a couple of photos. The quality is a little poor, because they were taken on my phone!

Curved Ridge

Lena finding Curved Ridge

A day off, so into the hills for something to do on a damp day - scrambling is the answer. A classic - Curved Ridge, always a winner.

The day started with rain, and mist, but this wasn't forecast to stay.

Eventually the sun did come out and the waterproofs could go away, and even the rock dried out, another great day in the hills. The crouds have died out a little, but still Glencoe seemed busy with walkers and tourists...

Buachaille on 3rd April

The new snow at the beginning of the month made the Buachaille look terrific

Curved Ridge

Chris

Working for Jagged Globe today, I took Chris and Stefan on their last day of their course to Curved Ridge, unfortunately in the rain. The rain was initially heavy but it was forecast to ease off as the day moved on, so we'd be fine. Unfortunately there isn't any snow on the ridge any more, so it was a 'summer' ascent. There were a few other teams on the climb including Zac, who got up and off early.

Chris with Stefan behind

Chris found Number 2 Gully 'exciting' the other day, so he was definitely exhilarated by todays climb. Stefan was relaxed and composed as ever. Before this week Chris was backcountry skiing in Asia, and it'll be France next week, followed by Greenland in a few weeks, hopefully this weeks fun will last in his memory for a while. This was Stefan's first taste of Scottish mountaineering, and I hope he'll be back for more.


There was no need for our crampoons today.

Pose for the photos

The remaining snow in Coire na Tulaich

We did use our axes in the upper bowl at the end of Curved Ridge, before Crowberry Gap, but the team after us avoided this snow by heading over to the next ridge. On the way down we deliberately went onto the remaining snow in Coire na Tulaich, to show that Chris's and Stefan's abilities and confidence had grown over the week.

Stob Dearg

Day 4 of our 'Intro to Winter Mountaineering' course. Today we wanted a journey where the group would have the opportunity to put their new skills into practice - so we headed for Coire na Tulaich on Buachaille Etive Mor. There wasn't much snow at all - but just enough!

So when the snow slopes got a little steeper, the groups got a chance to get the ropes out, set up belays, and swing leads. Then we headed for the summit of Stob Dearg - always a winner.

A quick abseil, or lower or 2 and down we went.. Here is Craig. Everybody is looking forward to something a little steeper and more challenging tomorrow..

Just a typical view on my way home! This is from Onich....

Easy Gully - Curved Ridge

Jagged Globe - Winter Mountaineering

Today was my second day with Julia and Steve. They really enjoyed Ledge Route yesterday and wanted something of similar difficulty, in a different location - so we headed off for the Easy Gully next to Curved Ridge. The car park was full but the mountain didn't feel busy, and Curved Ridge was almost empty, Dave Haygarth almost had it to himself. Easy Gully was great for the team, with a couple of steepenings to add interest and difficulty - it made the decision to get the team to bring their 2 axes worth while for that part.

David Haygarth on the ice option before the start of Curved Ridge. The ice was a little hollow, but seemed solid enough.

The start of Easy Gully, with impressive rock all around.

After one of the little steepenings

David Haygarth chatting at the top of Curved Ridge

Julia and Steve very happy - near the summit

So after the last 2 days, they have been to the top of the Ben and Buachaille Etive Mor (Stob Dearg). Julia booked onto the course, not really sure what to expect, and she has good reason to be proud of her achievements this week. Steve and Julia - thank you for good company over the last couple of days - and I hope to see you again (maybe next year ?!).

Curved Ridge

Lagangarbh and Buachaille Etive Mor

Jagged Globe Winter Mountaineering

Jan (who was with Jeff, led by Andy Chapman)

Today I was with Nic and Steve and we headed for Curved Ridge. When we arrived, the team already on the route were shouting 'avalanche' - and we saw repeated wet snow slides coming out of the access point to the route. This continued every 5 minutes or so. So we decided to keep to the left of Curved ridge, on the icy pitches for a teaching day. The snow slides continued throughout the day. Nic and Steve got a lot out of the day, but apparently we missed out of the stunning views that Mark Hendry and team were getting from the top of Stob Coire nan Lochan.

Jagged Globe Blog

Curved Ridge, Buachaille Etive Mor

This photo is out of order! But hey, this is us (myself and Andy and Steve) just short of the summit - thanks to Gaz for the photo

Amazing surface hoar crystals at the moment, due to sustained cold temperatures over the last 7 days or so.

On the ridge, Gaz and his team - stunning view behind him

Gazs' team on the normal left line. I took the alternate line to the right with my team - steep and exciting.

Can you see Ballachulish Bridge in the distance - Glencoe in front of the bridge.

Leaving the summit of Stob Dearg, 1022m (Buachaille Etive Mor), in glorious sunshine

I started a 5 day climbing course today with Andy and Steve. They are fit and the conditons are good at the moment so we should have a good week of climbing. I decided to start on something reasonable, so we headed for Curved Ridge. At the first pitch I found I was the 4th instructional team on the route, but luckily I knew Sam and Gaz and everybody was happy to work around each other.

Andy and Steve were enjoying the difficulties, so we took some great variations, as we headed to the bottleneck normal crux.

We summited, took our photos and got back to the car after a fun glissade on hard neve.